Chapter 702

Inside the central army's grand tent, it's lively and fragrant, with endless sensual music filling the air.

It includes the Zhongjun Camp (the central army's grand tent). Furthermore, the syllable 'li' might not be a name, indicating the presence of the Zhongjun Camp.

Though Lu Wanwan is shy, her coordination is exceptionally high.

It includes Lu Wanwan.

This girl, who had just experienced sex, under the guidance of Qin Zhanhong, this old driver, experienced in one night something that most women might never do in their lifetime.

The next day.

Chen Wuji holds the central command, ordering the army to march toward Wu'an City, the first city in the southern part of Songzhou.

At the same time, both scout camps deploy all personnel, their reconnaissance covering a radius of three hundred li.

Besides scouting enemy movements, they also need to investigate the populace's situation.

Chen Wuji needs to verify whether Songzhou's populace has been widely poisoned by A Furong, and whether they believe in the deity fabricated by Yu Ren.

This intelligence will determine the course of the ensuing war.

This is also why Chen Wuji personally came to Songzhou.

At noon, Qin Feng suddenly sent an urgent report from Hezhou.

At that moment, Chen Wuji, Qin Zhanhong, and Lu Wanwan were chatting and laughing about last night's events, teasing each other, feeling quite relaxed.

Unexpectedly, as Qin Feng's report was opened, Chen Wuji's good mood vanished instantly, his face darkening to a terrifying degree, to the point that even the usually outspoken Qin Zhanhong quietly closed his mouth.

"Husband, what's wrong?" Only after Chen Wuji put away the letter did Qin Zhanhong cautiously ask.

Chen Wuji tucked the report into his lap, saying, "There's something urgent; you rest, I'll go find Mr. Xu."

Xu Zengyi's wind-cold ailment had not yet healed, and he was lying in a carriage behind.

After getting off the carriage, Chen Wuji boarded Xu Zengyi's carriage again, saying, "Sir, I think I now know what conspiracy Yu Ren and the Qiang people have."

Xu Zengyi had a cloth covering his forehead, lying in the carriage with eyes closed to rest; hearing Chen Wuji's words, he suddenly sat up, asking, "Lord, have you received any news?"

Chen Wuji handed over the report sent by Qin Feng, saying, "Qin Feng just had someone rush it from Hezhou, where many places have seen the populace forming societies; they claim to have been summoned by the Heavenly Lord, wishing to go to Songzhou to subdue demons and eradicate evil, and reset the cosmos."

Xu Zengyi was completely bewildered, saying, "What is all this? I can hardly make sense of it."

While speaking, he hastily opened the report to read it.

"This demon, without a doubt, must be me." Chen Wuji said, "Yu Ren's layout in Nan Jun wasn't put together in a day or two; he must have started planning it long ago."

The riotous cult that had been causing an uproar in Qing County, if not mistaken, was surely instigated by that dog Yu Ren. Now, with the imminent war, he has ordered these believers to gather, to subdue me, this demon, as an offering to his Heavenly Lord.

Qin Feng said the areas of the uprising were in great disorder, almost every county having them, numbering up to a thousand or as few as a few hundred; all smeared their foreheads with dog's blood, tied cloths inscribed with "Ten Thousand Evils Shall Not Invade" on their arms, fully armed. Their weapons were far from inferior, mostly knives and spears, and they even had a large quantity of leather armor.

While Chen Wuji was speaking, Xu Zengyi had already finished reading the report.

His gaze sank, and he said in a low voice, "Lord, now is not the time to spare the people's strength; we must enact Forceful Suppression, lest it spread further."

Yu Ren's move is not a rebellion; rather, he seeks to establish a state through heretical law, while simultaneously cutting off the Lord's foundation.

Chen Wuji nodded, saying, "All participants in the rebellious societies will be slaughtered; in this matter I will not implicate the innocent."

Any clansman who took part in this will have his clan and relatives within three generations stripped of all prior benefits, taxes doubled within two years, and offenders will be punished by extermination of three clans!

What Yu Ren has stirred up is nothing but a plague.

A plague capable of causing local xianya to collapse in a short time, creating endless chaos.

The populace's eyes are often sharp, but they lack the most direct discernment, making them inevitably fall prey to schemers' calculations.

Since ancient times, uprisings cloaked in the guise of deities have been too many to count.

The aim is to deceive the ordinary folk who have always revered heaven, earth, nature, and deities into joining.

A talisman scroll infused with A Furong, burned and drunk as water, instantly cures ailments; they will then deem the Heavenly Lord genuine and begin to worship him.

Many commoners have no idea what A Furong is, nor how terrifying that thing is.

They will only think that the talisman scroll truly bore the Heavenly Lord's power, ridding them of all illnesses.

"Lord, your insight is profound; the war drums must be beaten with a heavy hammer. If we do not punish severely, the people will not retain this lesson." Xu Zengyi said, "Applying pressure to the clans and kin can at least restrain those believers who have not yet joined, and also make them remember this lesson."

However, we should send people to issue notices to the populace everywhere, letting them know what is happening. Especially the poison of A Furong—this matter is too difficult for the prefecture to handle alone; we must rely on the strength of local clans and kin.

Good!

"Lord, since Hezhou has seen this, other prefectures likely cannot escape either." Xu Zengyi said again, "We must swiftly order the Provincial Troops everywhere to recruit Young Strongmen on the spot and extinguish this cluster of heretical fire."

Chen Wuji gave a faint hum, saying, "Sir, please confirm whether this is Yu Ren's ultimate aim? Right now, this conspiracy cannot be ignored, nor can it be dismissed."

"It should be!" Xu Zengyi said.

But for Yu Ren's plot to be carried out perfectly, the Lord must die! He will certainly attempt an assassination; with the Lord holding this position, Nan Jun cannot fall into chaos, nor could it.

Hezhou has General Yang commanding thirty thousand troops to garrison; in a short time he can suppress the uprisings of the surrounding prefectures, and Yushan Prefecture also has Generals Chen Baojia and Xie Fengxian; assigning one of them could pacify the civil unrest of the neighboring prefectures.

The Lord now has his forces deployed in three directions, like three divine nails that can settle all chaos in Nan Jun. Under such circumstances, the Heavenly Lord Yu Ren's bīngmǎ could never muster to Songzhou to appear before our army. But if the Lord were to die, everything would be different.

Chen Wuji's expression turned cold, saying, "Then I'll wait and see what means this Heavenly Lord can use to kill me, so that Nan Jun may return to the chaos he desires."

"Such trash, even if he calls himself the Heavenly Lord, even the heavens won't aid him."

Xu Zengyi glanced over Qin Feng's report once more, then said in a low voice, "Lord, there is another matter: the Qiang People may be undergoing changes."

"If they move, I'm not surprised at all." Chen Wuji said calmly.

Yu Ren and the Qiang People have this time indeed devised a good tactic, but I don't understand who is now in the open and who in the dark, or whether they are both in the open, with that old Lao Zamao, the Snake Staff Elder, lurking in the dark.

"Lord, do you suspect that the Snake Staff Elder's methods are involved here?" Xu Zengyi's expression flickered with surprise.

Chen Wuji nodded, saying, "When the Qing County cult first rose, the Snake Staff Elder's shadow was already within it. Afterward, this old Lao Zamao teamed up with the Qiang People; not long ago I received intel that he has been wandering the Qiang Land lately, making it hard for me not to suspect him."